Edythe Wright was an American singer who performed from 1935 to 1939 with the band led by Tommy Dorsey.
Early life
Edythe Wright was born in Bayonne, New Jersey, the youngest child of Harrison Burr Wright and Hanna Heffernan. Her siblings were Ethel, James, Estelle, Kathryn, Thomas and Helen. Harrison was a second cousin to the Barrymore acting family of Philadelphia. It is not clear whether he was related to the Maurice Barrymore side of the family or the Georgiana Drew side. He was also an actor with the troupe of Harrigan and Hart which was a popular act in the late 19th and early 20th century. Wright grew up in Highland Park, New Jersey. In Bandstand, Wright states that she went to St. Peter's Parochial School and St. Peter's High School in New Brunswick before transferring to New Brunswick High School where she graduated in 1933. From there she spent time running a coffee shop with her sister, studied drama at the New Jersey College for Women at New Brunswick and spent her summers at Sea Girt, New Jersey.
Early career
Wright debuted on radio in March 1935, singing with Paul Whiteman's Rhythm Trio. That performance led to her becoming the singer in the Sunset Room of the Robert Treat Hotel in Newark, New Jersey. By the end of that month, she was also singing "7 to 10 presentations a week" on WOR radio. She sang with Frank Crum's orchestra in the Sunset Room and later performed with Lennie Hayton's orchestra. In May 1935, while singing with Crum's orchestra, she made six recordings for Brunswick Records. Wright's early exposure on network radio came via appearances with the orchestras of Frank Dailey and Joe Haymes. She won the job with Dailey out of 500 women who auditioned, enabling her to be heard six nights a week on CBS. Her network debut came on August 31, 1935, when she sang with Dailey's orchestra from the Meadowbrook Ballroom in Cedar Grove, New Jersey. During the summer of 1935 she was asked by Dailey to fill in for his vocalist Nancy Flake during an engagement at the Asbury Park Casino. She was heard by Tommy Dorsey's agent and despite her supposed dislike of being a band vocalist and lack of formal musical training, accepted a permanent job with Dorsey.
Big Band era
Wright became the first female singer with Dorsey's band after he left the Dorsey Brothers Orchestra to start his own group. Her career spanned from September 1935 through August 1939. She made 121 studio recordings with Tommy Dorsey's Orchestra, Clambake Seven, and the California Ramblers, several recordings under a pseudonym for transcription purposes. Wright's acquaintance with an executive at Brown & Williamsontobacco company helped to secure a radio program for the Dorsey band. She was a fixture on radio '', and contributed arrangements to the Dorsey band. However, in September 1939 she left the Dorsey band and was replaced by Anita Boyer and then Connie Haines.
Post-Dorsey era
After Wright left Dorsey's group, she had a solo singing act. In September 1940, she was joined by Ruth Lowe, forming a new act that debuted in Boston, Massachusetts. In 1943, she starred on Victory Caravan, a variety show on radio station WIP in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Wright did at least one episode of the Ellery Queen radio series broadcast on July 14, 1940 with a rebroadcast in October 1943. She spent the war years in California and returned to New York in 1950 to manage Sy Oliver. Oliver at that time was affiliated with Decca Records.
Personal life
She married John T. Smith. According to his U.S. Army file, he enlisted in the Army on October 6, 1941 and was assigned to Fort Dix with the rank of private. He served as a combat engineer in Alaska during World War II. Smith died in June 1981. They had a son, Patrick. During the 1950s she was a Democratic committeewoman from Wall Township, New Jersey, and according to Rose Shiffman directed amateur theatricals at the Chadwick Beach Club in the early 1960s.
Death
Wright died from pancreatic cancer at the Point Pleasant Hospital on October 27, 1965. According to her obituary she was laid out at the Meehan Funeral Home in Spring Lake Heights, a Mass of Christian Burial was held at St. Denis Roman Catholic Church in Manasquan with burial taking place at St. Catherine's Cemetery in Spring Lake Heights.
